The present invention relates generally to the field of containers and lids for dispensing fluidized material.
A variety of containers and lids have been devised for spreading fluidized material, such as, grass seed, fertilizer, food products and various granular and powdered material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,274,969 discloses a broadcast sower for distributing seed from a container in a plurality of different directions. U.S. Pat. No. 2,511,560 discloses a scoop for manually scattering powdered or granular materials, such as, lime, fertilizer, or seeds with the scoop provided with a plurality of vanes to direct the material outwardly from the scoop. Another seed spreader that inertially ejects the seed from the hopper is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,568. A more simple approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,674 that includes a telescopic nozzle to uniformly distribute granular material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,062 discloses a container lid having an aperture closable by a slidable wall mounted to the lid of the container.
Despite the prior spreaders and distributors, there is still a need for a sturdy container lid that is easy to operate for distributing granular material simultaneously in a variety of different radial directions. It is desirable such a lid be resealable to allow for repeated distributions.
One embodiment of the present invention is a lid to dispense material from the mouth of a container comprising a main body mountable on the mouth of a container. The main body includes an opening for receiving material moving through the mouth of the container and a combination seal. A dispenser is movably mounted to the main body and has a sealing position whereat the seal and dispenser blocks material flow through the opening and a dispensing position whereat material is allowed to flow through the mouth and opening. The seal and dispenser includes a plurality of vane surfaces to direct material flowing through the opening outwardly from the lid.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved lid for dispensing fluidized material from a container.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a resealable lid for radially distributing granular material in a variety of directions.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a material dispensing closure wherein granular material is dispensed outwardly of the edge portion or xe2x80x9crimxe2x80x9d of the closure.
Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.